The Methodologic Core of the proposed Northwestern University (NU) Core Center for Clinical Research (CCCR) will provide an environment that encourages collaboration among Core faculty and staff and CCCR investigators and trainees on translational, clinical, epidemiologic, and health services rheumatic disease/musculoskeletal research projects and enhances project quality and team productivity. Innovative directions of the proposed Core include powerful new approaches in behavioral science, implementation research, adaptive study designs, and extraction of complex electronic health record data from the Northwestern Medicine Enterprise Data Warehouse for discovery work by the CCCR Research Community. Through its active relationships ? with the Department of Preventive Medicine, other NU Feinberg School of Medicine departments, the NU Institute for Public Health and Medicine, and the NU Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NU's CTSA) ? this Core will draw on a rich and diverse community of experts. The proposed Core will help solve the research challenges of projects pertaining to a variety of rheumatic diseases (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis) and will promote and catalyze interdisciplinary team research. To advance all clinical research related to rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions by our expanding Research Community and to particularly drive work related to our CCCR's theme ? prevention strategy and intervention development to create lifestyle, behavioral, medical, and rehabilitative solutions for these conditions and their consequences ? we propose the following Methodologic Core aims: 1) provide customized information technology, data extraction, and data management support to ongoing and new clinical research; 2) provide methodologic expertise pertaining to study design, study conduct, and data analysis of ongoing and new research; 3) enhance the methodologic training environment within the CCCR, and thus the capabilities of both faculty and trainees, through provision of focused services including formal educational opportunities and research mentoring, and collaboration on study planning, proposal development, and study performance; 4) provide cutting-edge methodologic, consultative, and collaborative capabilities to meet ongoing and emerging clinical research needs of the CCCR Research Community regarding a) study design and data collection methods, b) statistical science and analysis, c) epidemiology, d) behavioral science, e) nutritional science, f) implementation science/innovative study design, g) economic evaluation/decision science, h) genomics/bioinformatics, i) clinical informatics, and j) data management, by utilizing and supporting highly successful methodologic experts in the NU environment; and 5) facilitate and provide training on team science to investigators at all career stages, to enhance functioning and productivity of interdisciplinary teams, and provide consultation/coaching to sustain optimal communication, cooperation, and partnerships.